Plastic industry lobbyists (including this woman) —representing groups with green-sounding names like “Progressive Bag Alliance” — traveled to New Haven from as far as Albany and Maryland to try to kill a proposal to ban plastic bags at local grocery stores and pharmacies.
Instead of banning the bags, they called for the city and local business to work together to make recycling more effective.
“We can’t make meaningful, reasonable gains by recycling,” argued East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar, adding that the proposed ordinance is “not recycling legislation.”
The ordinance, proposed by Lemar and Fair Haven Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale, pictured, bans large grocery stores (Shaw’s, Stop-and-Shop) and drug stores (Rite-Aid, CVS) from offering customers plastic bags. Compostable plastic bags would instead take their place at first; their usage would be phased out as well, two years after the date of passage. The ordinance also includes an infraction penalty: $500 for a first violation, $1000 for the second in the same year and $2000 for each additional infraction within the same year.
The bill was the subject of a public hearing Monday night at the Board of Aldermen’s Legislation Committee, which ended up tabling it.
Compostable bags are usually made from corn and organic matter and undergo decomposition, leaving no toxic residue.
The idea is to change people’s behavior and encourage them to bring cloth or canvas bags with them instead, said Lemar and Sturgis-Pascale.
“I’m bringing reality into this,” said Stephen Rosario, of the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division, who traveled from Albany to testify before the committee. “The issue is not the product, it’s us. We’re the ones creating the problem.”
Many of the speakers in opposition said that the way to address the problem is to educate the public on how to recycle.
Sturgis-Pascale reminded those in attendance about the “reduce-reuse-recycle” slogan. She said the ordinance aims for reducing and reusing rather than recyling.
Lemar said that only 5.2 percent of plastic bags are recycled and that 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away every year.
Donna Dempsey, pictured at the top of this story, came from Maryland to testify on behalf of an industry front group called the Progressive Bag Alliance. She said that mandating the use of compostable bags will only hamper the efforts already in place to recycle plastic bags, which are 100 percent recyclable.
“If a compostable bag is mixed in with plastic bags it will be contaminated,” she said.
Plastic bags are recycled and often used as lumber to build decks, among other things.
“It wouldn’t contaminate the plastic bag stream because we’ll be moving away from there,” said Sturgis-Pascale.
Dempsey also said that compostable bags cost six times as much as standard plastic bags.
Beaver Hills Alderman Moti Sandman said he is not comfortable with the ordinance because it asks the industry to make changes and then places the burden on the consumer.
“Now we’re going to penalize our poorest, those than can least afford it?” he asked. “We should have more effective recycling.”
Sturgis-Pascale argued that the bags are currently not free. The price is incorporated into the food prices.
She mentioned that economically the ordinance could be good for New Haven. She said that Bob Levine, former parks and recreation director, said he spent 30 percent of his time picking up trash, including plastic bags. Money could be saved in the long run, she said.
Nathan Bixby from the Network for a Sustainable New Haven and Daniel Sumrall of the Green Party, pictured, co-authored the ordinance with Lemar and Sturgis-Pascale.
“We need to create a climate in which businesses can innovate,” said Sumrall. “Nothing that tells them what they can and can’t do is irresponsible.”
“We need to look towards educating our public to create habits for re-using,” said Bixby.
Morris Cove Alderwoman Arlene DePino had questions about how the infractions would be enforced and also about whether the proposed ordinance would be in compliance with state law. She recommended tabling the ordinance, which was seconded and then passed.
Lemar said the next step is to change some language and answer the questions of the other aldermen as well as to meet in a workshop setting with some of the groups that presented at the hearing. He estimated the item would be up for discussion again in September.
Why not get serious about recycling instead of regulating what every bodega, grocery store and package store put their products in. It is something that can be put into effect quicker, and puts the onus on the city of new haven itself. Every city in California and many on this side already have those big recycling bins, they are about the size of the City of New Haven official trash can on wheels, and make it easier for us regular folk to recycle. more than half the stuff we put in the regular garbage can be recycled. That leaves more landfill space, less trafic trucked somewhere else, and puts those offending bags back into circulation. The mayor and aldermen need be tough with our sanitation and get this done now.
as far as the bags themselves, maybe the city can give a little token in the form of some kind of break to businesses who choose to use biodegradable products. or maybe the mayor could come out in his prius and give them a hug for being green.